Cooling devices for vehicles are well known in the art. Most cooling devices consist of a two phase heat exchange wherein a heat exchanger is cooled with a pre-cooled cooling agent and air to be cooled is passed over the heat exchanger. The cooling agent is then circulated to another heat exchanger where the cooling agent is subsequently re-cooled by exchanging heat with the atmosphere. The present invention provides a novel method and apparatus for cooling a tractor employing air from a refrigeration trailer coupled to the tractor. The present invention uses existing cooling-systems in combination with an apparatus to form a novel method for cooling a cab or interior of a tractor-trailer combination with such a cooling device without reducing fuel thereof.
A patentability search was conducted and the following U.S. Patents by numbers were found: U.S. Pat. No. 2,091,594 to Innes; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,211,076 to Chancellor.
Innes ('594) discloses an air conditioning apparatus that is towed by a car, such that the car may be cooled. Chancellor et al ('076) discloses an air cooling unit for tractors
None of the foregoing teach or suggest the particular method and/or apparatus of the present invention.